About the Data

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) produces Economy at a Glance pages at the national, regional, state, and metropolitan area levels. The data displayed in these pages are assembled from different surveys and programs conducted by BLS. The Economy at a Glance pages are refreshed with current data every time any of the source programs releases new statistics. This typically occurs 7-9 times per month.

Different programs produce data pertaining to different geographic levels--thus, the related Economy at a Glance tables have somewhat different information.

The seven BLS programs that produce Principal Federal Economic Indicators all publish national US data. These programs are: Current Population Survey, Current Employment Statistics, Consumer Price Index, Producer Price Indexes, International Price Indexes, Employment Cost Index, and Major Sector Productivity. All seven programs are represented in the US Economy at a Glance.

For the Economy at a Glance pages at the sub-national level:

Data at the regional level are produced by the following programs: Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Consumer Price Index, and Employment Cost Index.

Data at the State level are produced by the following programs: Local Area Unemployment Statistics, State and Area portion of and Current Employment Statistics.

Data at the metropolitan area level are produced by the following programs: Local Area Unemployment Statistics, the State and Area portion of Current Employment Statistics, and, for some metropolitan areas, the Consumer Price Index.

At the higher aggregation levels (national, regional, and state) the data are typically seasonally adjusted. At the metropolitan area level the data are typically not seasonally adjusted. The Economy at a Glance footnotes explain which data are or are not seasonally adjusted.

The following table summarizes the data availability on Economy at a Glance tables:

Survey

National

Regional

State

Metropolitan
Area

Current Population Survey

Seasonally
Adjusted

Current Employment Statistics

Seasonally
Adjusted

Seasonally
Adjusted

Not
Seasonally
Adjusted

Local Area Unemployment Statistics

Seasonally
Adjusted

Seasonally
Adjusted

Not
Seasonally
Adjusted

Consumer Price Indexes

Seasonally
Adjusted

Not
Seasonally
Adjusted

Not
Seasonally
Adjusted

Producer Price Index

Seasonally
Adjusted

International Price Indexes

Seasonally
Adjusted

Employment Cost Index

Seasonally
Adjusted

Seasonally
Adjusted

Major Sector Productivity

Seasonally
Adjusted

For some programs data for the most recent month(s) or quarter are considered preliminary.

There are a few anomalous situations in the Economy at a Glance tables. For example, the State and Area portion of the Current Employment Statistics program does not produce seasonally adjusted data for the Information sector for most of the states. These anomalies are flagged in the Economy at a Glance tables through footnotes and by highlighting those rows in a different color.